Washing machine



Nov. 2, 1937. N. H. wA-rrs WASHING MACHINE Filed May 29, 1954 @SMM l AttOpneL-lj Inventoj l Patented Nov. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES WASHING MACHINE Noble H. Watts, Bridgeport, Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of Y New York rApplication May 29, 1934, serial No. 728,125

1 Claim.

My invention relates to power driven washing and wringing machines and particularly to washing and wringing machines of the type wherein the washing is performed by an agitator'member which is mounted within the tub containing the material to be washed and given an oscillatory motion with respect thereto, and the wringing is performed by a suitable wringer carried by the supporting structure of the machine.. The washing mechanism and the wringer are usually driven by asmall electric motor and my invention relates particularly to a machine so driven, but it will be understood that it is not necessarily limited thereto, nor is it as to certain aspects limited to l5 the speciic type of washing mechanism referred to above.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved washing and wringing machine, and for a consideration of what I believe to' be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the accompanying description and the claim 'appended thereto.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view partlyvbroken away of a machine embodying my g55 invention, the section being taken on line I-I of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine partly in section with certain parts broken away or removed to illustrateY those below; Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig.

3o 1 and Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail view taken on line #-4 of Fig. 3. l

Referring to the drawing, I0 represents a gear case comprising an elongated housing member of irregular shape which extendsdiametrically across the under side of tub Il and is connected at its ends to legs I2 and I 3 so as to form abridgelike rigid supporting structure for the tub. A

rolled steel skirt I4 is fastened to thel gear case and the legs by screws as indicated at I5, and 40 other suitably spaced legs (not shown) are fastened to the steel skirt at the iront and at the rear of the machine to complete .the supporting structure. The upper periphery of steel skirt I4 is flanged as shown at I6to provide a peripheral 45 support for the tub, which is 'centrally supported by the gear casing in a mannerfto be described later. A gasket ofinsulating or sound deadening material II is preferably arranged between flange I6 and the tub. Centrally of and below casing 50 Ilis arranged a driving motor consisting of a stator member I8 and a rotor I9, the rotor being carried by a vertical shaft 2B. Although the motor may be supported in any desired manner, I

. prefer tofo'rm the upper end bell of the motor 5 integrally with the gear casing and to attach stator I8 and the lower end bell of the motor thereto by means' of a plurality of stud bolts which are threaded into bosses (not shown) on the unitary upper end bell, or, viewed' from another aspect, the surrounding motor shell is bolted directly to the gear casing. The head of one of these connecting bolts is indicated at 2I. In order to further brace the supporting structure, a number of radially extending rods 22 are connected at one end to the gear casing or motor frame as shown at 23 and at the other end to the supporting legs as shown at 24.

The upper side of gear casing I0 is provided with an elongate opening 25 as shown best in Fig. 2 over which a cover member 26 is arranged. Cover 26 may be fastened to the gear casing in any desired manner as by a plurality of stud bolts which are adapted to thread into holes 21 in the casing. I prefer to employ a gasket between the gear casing and its cover in orderto provide an oil tight closure.

At the central position of the supporting cover member 26 a raised portion 21 is provided having an aperture therein in which is arranged an assembly unit for supporting the center of the tub. 'I'he assembly unit comprises a bearing member 28 provided with a flanged portion 29 arranged below the cover and with atubular threaded portion extending upward .through the aperture in the cover. An internally threaded center post is provided with a ange 3l immediately above cover member 26 so that when center post 30 is` screwed down on bearing 28 cover member 26 will be clamped between flanges 29 and \3I whereby bearing member 28 and center post 30 are supported centrally of the bridging structure by cover 26.A The upper side of ilange 3| forms the center support for tub II which is provided with an aperture through which center post 30 extends upwardly. Threaded on center post 30 is a anged nut 32which bears against the upper side` of the bottom of the tub to complete the assembly unit. Gasket members 33 may be arranged respectivelybetween the tub and ilange 3| andjbetween the tub and flange .nut 32 in order vto provide a water tight joint.- It will be seen, therefore, that I have provided a compact, braced supporting structure for a washing machine which includes a gear case extending across the bottom of the tub to centrally support the same and aY peripheral skirt carried by the gear case for supporting the periphery of the tub, in which two legs are fastened to the gear casel to form a bridge and the other two legs are fastened t9 .the peripheral skirt, all of the legs being of the two shafts are ground flat to provide smooth even bearing surfaces. The upper end of motor shaft 26 is journaled in al bearing 49 carried in a boss 50 in the gear casing. A retaining ring 5| is provided which is located in a groove in shaft 20 just above bearing 49. It normally clears bearing 48. Its purpose is to hold shaft 2l! from dropping out of its bearing when thev machine is being assembled or dismantled. By reason of the vertical alignment of the two shafts 28 and 34 a compact gear train consisting entirely of helical or spur gears and a rack and pinion may be utilized for converting the rotary motion of shaft 28 into oscillatory motion for shaft 84. 'I'he -gearing mechanism comprises a helical gear 38 cut into the motor shaft 28 and meshing with gear 81 which is journaled on a pin 88 rigidly mounted in boss` 39 formed in the gear casing. Gear 31 carries a spur pinion 46 which is made integral therewith by forcing the pinion into the gear so that the teeth of the pinion cut their way in and act as keys or splines. If the gear is die cast the pinion may be molded in the gear as an insert. Meshing with pinion 40 is a gear 4| which is journaled on pin 42 and` which carries an eccentrically mounted pin 48 on which is journaled a rack frame 44. It will.

be seen that by means of the mechanism thus far described the rotation of motor shaft 28 is transmitted through the reducing gears and pinions to gear 4| which reciprocates rack frame 44 by means of stud 43. Rack teeth 45 are arranged along one side of frame 44 so as to mesh with a pinionA 48 carried by shaft 84 whereby shaft 84 is oscillated. Although pinion 48 may be mounted on shaft 34 in any suitable manner I prefer to provide shaft 84 with splines', as shown, and to hold pinion 48 against the under side of bearing 28 in correct alignment with rack 45 by means of a nut 46a threaded on shaft 84. In order to transmit oscillating movement to shaft 84 and to balance the thrust exerted by the rack teeth 45 on pinion 46, I provide a guide lip or flange 41 along the side of frame 44 opposite from the rack teeth 45 arranged to bear against the outer raceway of an anti-friction bearing 48 carried by shaft bearing 28, whereby rack 45 will be held in contact with pinion 46 and the tooth thrust on one side of shaft 84 will be transmitted to the roller bearing 48, thereby balancing the tooth strains with the roller strains. It will be realized of course that the particular arrangement shown is merely one embodiment of my invention, and that roller bearing 48 may be mounted directly on shaft 84, or may be entirely dispensed with and an annular shoulder on shaft 84 or bearing 28 substituted` therefor. When the caring is assembled, shaft 20 is supported by vt e engagement of the single helical teeth of pinion 88 with the single helical teeth on gear wheel 81. The angle of these teeth is such that when the motor is running there is an axial thrust upward on shaft 28. This upward axial thrust is taken by shaft 84.

'Ihe outer raceway of roller bearing 48 may bearing 48 of slightly greater diameter than pinion 46 in order to facilitate assembly of the unit. If roller bearing 48 is given a smaller diameter than pinion 46 guide lip 41 must project inwardly over pinion 46 in order to contact with the raceway. With a larger diameter raceway, guide lip 41 does not extend inwardly over pinion/48 and the whole assembly unit comprising bearing 28, shaft 34, roller bearing 48, pinion 46 and nut 46a may be first assembled and then lowered into position without interference from guide lip 41 so that the lower .end of shaft 84 rests on shaft 2U. The arrangement of the thrust absorbing roller bearing 48 on the same shaft as the pinion ple compact structure which is easily allgnable to impart uniform oscillation to shaft 8d. The full angular throw of 'reciprocating frame 44 around pinion 48 as a center results in a lower power loss due to fewer friction points.

nSurrounding oscillator shaft 84 is a tubular upright stem 52 which is carried by center post 38, a press fit being provided therebetween. The upper end of stem 52 carries a bushing 58 in which is journaled an enlarged portion 54 of shaft 34as shown in Fig. 4. Immediately below portion 54 I provide a combined sealing and supporting structure for shaft 84, which comprises a coil spring 55, one end of which bears against a washer 56 supported on an internal annular shoulder 51 formed in stem 52. The other end of coil spring 55 bears against a cupshaped washer 58 surmounted by a rubber ring 58 and a ground steel ring 80. Coil spring 55 forces ground steel ring upward into vcontact with enlarged portion 54 to support the'shaft against downward thrust. I'he expansion of rubber ring 88 under the force exerted by coll spring 55 forms a water tight joint between the ring and stem 82 Vand together with the ground Joint between steel ring 88 and portion 54 prevents the entrance of water into the gear case I8 by way of stem 52.

Immediately above bushing 58 shaft 84 is further enlarged to provide a driving head 8|. Positioned on driving head 8| and adapted to be driven thereby is a vane type agitator 82. Any suitable vane type of agitator may be used. An annular supporting ring 88 carried by the agitator serves to properly position the lower end of agitator 62. The ring fits over the upper end of post 88 which serves as' a bearing for itl The of control rod 84 is a control knob 88 slidably journaled in the upper end of the agitator at 81. Rod 84 is free to turn in knob 88 so that when the knob is grasped in the hand it does not turn therein even if rod 84 is oscillating. Arranged within the agitator between the upper end thereof and driving head 8|, I have provided a clutching mechanism adapted to be operated by control rod 64 for connecting the agitator to and disconnecting it from oscillating shaft 84 so as to at will impart to agitator 82 the oscillatory motion of shaft 84. The upper face of driving head 8| is provided with two arcuate slots 88 and a key block 68 is pressed into the agitator head and provided with foul-'holes 18 spaced 90 apart and clrcumferentially arranged around a central aperture 1| in block 88 through which slides control bar 84. A plurality of clutch plungers 12 slidably arranged in the holes 18 for providing a driving connection between the shaft and the agitator, are connected to control rod 64 for actuation thereby through a disk 14 c arried by the control rod. A's shown inFig. 1 the upper end of each plunger 12 extends throughvdisk 14 and is provided with an enlarged portion above disk 14 whereby the plungers 12 will be pulled when control rod 64 and disk 14 are lifted. Each plunger is provided with a coil spring 13, one end of which bears against the under side of disk 14 and the other end of which bears against a shoulder 12a on the. respective plungers 12. When control rod 64 is moved, by depressing control button 66, disk 14 moves downwardly with control rod 64 and compresses coil springs 13 whereby plungers 12 are forced through holes inkeyblock 69 into engagement with arcuate slot 68 in driving head 6|. Each arcuate slot 68 spans an arc of 90 plus the diameter of one of the plungers 12 so that when plungers 12 are depressed the ends of each slot will cooperate with a pair of plungers to positively drive the agitator with a reversing motion. Plungers 12 are provided with tapered ends to cooperate with the tapered sides of slots 88 in order to compensate for wear and to allow clearance for engagement. When control knob 66 is lifted disk 14 will move with control rod 64 jand plungers 12 are pulled upward out of engagement with arcuate slot 68 to disengage the agitator from the oscillating shaft-34. As shown in Fig. 4 a toggle mechanism is provided for biasing control rod 64ito either clutched or unclutched position. This toggle mechanism consists of a pair` of levers 15 pivotally connected to control rod 64 and connected at their free ends to springs 16 which are attached by means of rivets 'l1 or other suitable means to key block 69.

The operation of the clutch mechanism may be described as follows: Assume a moment of en- 40 gagement in which two opposite plungers coincide with the center of slots 68 and the` two other plungers lie along line 4-4 of Fig. 3. It is evident thatwhen control button 66 is depressed the first two plungers are free to move downwardly into the arcuate slots 68, but the two plungers along line 4 4 are stopped by the head and their springs are compressed. When the driving head has rotated sufficiently to bring the first two plungers into contact with the respective ends of arcuate vslots 68 the remaining two plungers will then be in alignment with the opposite ends of slots 68 and will be moved into engagement by springs 13 so that when the motion of shaft 34 is reversed the two latter plungers take the driving eiort. By utilizing arcuate slots in the driving head and providing a plurality of suitably spaced clutch plungers each having an individual resilient lost motion connection with the control rod, I have provided a clutch mechanism in which the control button mayfbe actuated at any moment regardless of the position of the oscillating driving head, and in which the clutch plungers will always move to driving position regardless of the speed of the driving head. I have found that if a plurality of holes are provided in the driving head in place of arcuate slots 68 considerable difllculty is encountered in'that' the clutch plungers will often slide right over the holes which are moving at highspeed and the clutch will not become engaged. It will be obvious that any number of arcuate slots and pairs of cooperating plungers may be used so long as the length of each slot is equal to the spacing of a pair of plungers. v

In order toinsure that the control knob will remain in either of, its extremepositions whether or not the clutch plungers are engaged, it is necessary to make the toggle springs 16 somewhat stiffer than the pin backing springs 13.`

With a strong toggle spring lit has been found that there is a tendency for the agitator to be lifted off the driving head when control button '66 is lifted to disengage theclutch. In order to prevent the agitator from being so lifted from the driving head, I have provided an annular groove 18 in the driving head 6| which cooperates with a snap ring 88 and a similar annular groove 19 in the agitator. ASnap ring 80 which is placed in groove 19 has a maximum diameter slightly wringer mechanism, not ishown, which is driven` from the same electric motor through a portion of the same gear train which drives oscillating shaft 34. As shown in Fig. 1 a vertical rotary shaft 8| for driving the wringer is journaled at 82 in a boss carried by an extension of gear case l0. The lower end of shaft 8| rests on the lower wall of gear case l0 and carries gear 83 threaded thereon which is driven from gear 4| by means of an idler gear 84. Idler gear 84 is xedly con-' nected to a rotating pin 85 which rotates in sockets 86 and 81 formed /respectively in bosses in the lower and upper walls of gear case I0. The extension of gear case I8 which carries the wringer driving gears 83 and 84 compriseswspaced alls 88 and 89. The assembly of the gears in the proper alignment between walls 88 and 89 is accomplished as follows: Gear 83 is first slid into the narrow space be tween walls 88 and 89 and wringer shaft 8| is lowered through its bearing 82 and connected to gear 83 by means of the cooperating threads on the gear and the shaft. Gear 84 is then placed between walls 88 and 89 in mesh with gear 83 and pin 85 is inserted through the top of socket 81. In order to fixedly connect gear 84 to pin 85 a ball and pin arrangementfis provided comprising ball 90 and threaded pin 9|. 9| is screwed down in rotatable pin 85 the rounded end of pin 9| forces ball 90 into tight engagement with gear 84 whereby gear 83 is caused to turn with pin 85. It will be seen that I have provided a simplified compact arrangement for transmitting rotation to the wringer shaft which may be'easily assembled in the closed extension of gear casing |0.

In order to properly ventilate the electric motor and to prevent leakage of oil from the gear case through bearing 49, I provide a combined lsuitable manner as by screws 99,'the lower end When pin` bell of the motor serving as the upper wall of the pump housing. The lower end of motor shaft 20 y is journaled in bearing Inland extends into pump housing 98. A suitable centrifugal pump element 5 Iill is carried by shaft 2li within the pump housing and serves to exhaust the water from tub I I when valve |02', located in the discharge line of the pump,`is opend.` An oil seal similar to the one described above is built into pump element 10 IUI in order to prevent the leakage of oil from vreservoir |03 into the pump housing. y

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes I have described the operation of my invention together with the apparatus which I 15 now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof,l but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

'ranged in vertical alignment with an end of said driving shaft bearing against an end of said driven shaft to provide a thrust bearing for said shafts.

NOBLE H. WATTS. 

